Mile 36.4 - Lizard Point, England

As of September 12, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 106,332
Miles: 45.15



Lizard Point in Cornwall is the southernmost tip of the Lizard Peninsula. It is the southernmost tip of Great Britain. The tiny villages of The Lizard and Landewednack are located about half a mile north of the point.

Lizard Point is for many ships, the starting point of their ocean passage and a notorious shipping hazard. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution operates a lifeboat station at Kilcobben Cove, two miles northeast of the point. The station features a funicular line to transport lifeboatmen from the boathouse to the clifftop station.



The Lizard lighthouse is situated at Lizard Point. Immediately below the lighthouse, situated in what used to be a hotel is the Lizard Youth Hostel.



"Their olive green color and smooth or scaly appearance is the basis of the name from the Latin serpentinus, meaning serpent rock"

The area is famous for its carved serpentine rock items, which range from ornaments to the pump handles in the local public house; The Lizard Inn.

Also located on Lizard Point are the Goonhilly Earth station and the Bonython Wind Farm.

Goonhilly Earth station was once the world's largest earth station with over 60 dishes pointing into space and was responsible for sending and receiving millions of telephone calls, TV pictures, faxes and internet connections around the globe. It was the first earth station to receive "live" TV images from America and was used to broadcast "Live Aid" back in 1985, which became the most watched TV show in history. It is now a technology park called "Future World" and is loosely patterned after Epcot.



The first sighting of the Spanish Armada on Great Britain was off Lizard Point on the 29 July 1588. This was one of the greatest invasion fleets in history and consisted of 120 ships with 29,000 men on board.

As the Spanish Armada is a reoccurring mention - an entire entry will be devoted to it in the future.

The Mississippi Squirrel Revival

Ray Stevens - The Mississippi Squirrel Revival
Album: Collection
Thanks to Alice Kay for streaming this gem.

Well when I was kid I'd take a trip every summer, down to Mississippi.
To visit my granny in her ante bellum world.
I'd run barefooted all day long, climbing trees free as a song.
One day I happened catch myself a squirrel.
I stuffed him down in an old shoebox, punched a couple holes in the top
and when Sunday came, I snuck him in the church.

I was sittin way back in the very last pew showin him to my good
buddy Hugh, when that squirrel got loose and went totally berserk!
Well what happened next is hard to tell.
Some thought it was Heaven others thought it was Hell.
But the fact that something was among us was plain to see.
As the choir sang "I Surrender All"
the squirrel ran up Harv Newlan's coveralls.
Harv leaped to his feet and said, "Somethin's got a hold on me!" YEOW!

The day the squirrel went berserk,
in the First Self-Righteous Church
in that sleepy little town of Pascagoula.
It was a fight for survival, that broke out in revival.
They were jumpin pews and shouting Hallelujah!

Well Harv hit the aisles dancin and screamin, some thought he had religion, others thought he had a demon.
Harv thought he had a weed eater loose in his fruit of the looms.
He fell to his knees to plead and beg, and that squirrel ran out of his britches leg, unobserved to the other side of the room.
All the way down to the Amen pew where sat Sister Bertha "Better than you" who had been watching all the commotion with safistic glee.
Shoot, you should've seen the look in her eyes when that squirrel jumped her garders and crossed her thighs.
She jumped to her feet and said, "Lord have mercy on me!"
As the squirrel made laps inside her dress,
she began to cry and then to confess
to sins that would make a sailor blush with shame.
She told of gossip and church dissention,
but the thing that got the most attention
is when she talked about her love life, then she started naming names!

The day the squirrel went berserk,
in the First Self-Righteous Church
in that sleepy little town of Pascagoula.
It was a fight for survival, that broke out in revival.
They were jumpin pews and shouting Hallelujah!

Well seven deacons and then the pastor got saved
and 25,000 dollars got raised.
And 50 volunteered for missions in the Congo on the spot.
And even without an invitation there were at least 500 rededications.
And we all got rebaptised whether we needed it or not.

Now you've heard the Bible stories I guess of how
He parted the waters for Moses to pass.
All the miracles God has brought to this ol' world.
But the one I'll remember to my dyin day is how he put that church
back on the narrow way with a half crazed Mississippi Squirrel.

The day the squirrel went berserk,
in the First Self-Righteous Church
in that sleepy little town of Pascagoula.
It was a fight for survival, that broke out in revival.
They were jumpin pews and shouting Hallelujah!
 
 
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9-11 and The Constitution of the United States

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

...

Article I, Section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

...

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Article II, Section 2:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,

...

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The Federal Government was tasked over 225 years ago with the defense of, and providing for, the well-being of American citizens.

The taxpayers of the United States pay billions of dollars each year for defense - and employ millions of people to provide for that defense every year.

Commander in Chief is much more than a title. It is a burdensome responsibility - one that continues twenty four hours and day, seven days a week.

The events at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, very clearly shows the disastrous results of incompetent and complacent leadership.

In my opinion:

On September 11, 2001, the Federal Government inexcusably and outright failed to perform one of its most fundamental functions. The citizen's of the USA did not get their money's worth for the taxes they paid; what they did get where excuses, finger-pointing, political and self-serving lies and deceit masked as 'spin', demonstrations of unaccountability, even more government (of questionable effectiveness) and their taxes raised to even higher, more ridiculous levels.

Being Commander in Chief precludes taking multi-week vacations "back at the ranch."

History serves an important function - for our own good, we need to learn from it. The dates are far from being the most important thing - it is lesson that the cause and results of human behaviour teach that is important.

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Remember the events of 9-11-2001 - the extraordinary heroism displayed by those caught at the epicenter; heroism performed in part by those doing their jobs and brought about in part by the extraordinary ineptitude of their government.

Mile 12 - The Pirates of Penzance

As of September 10, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Steps: 87,986
Miles: 37.46

Penzance, or "holy headland" in the Cornish language, is a reference to the chapel of St. Anthony that stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour.

Until recently, this history was also reflected in the choice of symbol for the town, the severed 'holy head' of St. John the Baptist. It can still be seen on the civic regalia of the Mayor of Penzance and on several important landmarks in the town.



A headland is a piece of land that juts into the sea from the main land coast line. Headlands are shaped by erosion. They are formed when the sea attacks a section of coast consisting of alternating bands of hard and soft rock. The bands of soft rock such as sand and clay, erode more quickly than those of more resistant hard rock such as chalk.



The Promenade

The completion of the railway through Cornwall from London made it easier for tourists and invalids to enjoy the mild climate of Penzance. Bathing machines were advertised for hire on the beach as early as 1823 and public baths were opened on the Promenade in 1887. The town's first official guide book was published in 1860. The town was "noted for the pleasantness of its situation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its natives".

It wasn't always so pleasant in Penzance - In medieval times and later, the town was subject to frequent raiding by Turkish pirates. The name of one of Penzance's oldest buildings 'The Turk's Head' pub is said to be a reference to these incidents.



Being at the far west of England, Penzance and the surrounding villages were also sacked many times by foreign fleets. On July 23rd 1595, several years after the Spanish Armada of 1588, a Spanish force under Don Carlos de Amesquita, which had been patrolling the Channel, landed troops in Cornwall. Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away before it could be confronted.



It is assumed that these pirates and raiders later inspired 'The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty', a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on December 31, 1879. The London premiere was on April 3, 1880.

This opera remains popular today, taking its place along with The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore as one of the most frequently performed Gilbert and Sullivan operas.